While we are here in February and March, a number of cultural events take place. And one of the absolute best is Carnaval. This is the same event that takes place in many other parts of the world, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the enormous Carnival in Rio de Janeiro with its Samba parades, Fasnacht in Basel, Switzerland, the Carnival of Venice, and even Quebec City’s Winter Carnival.
Carnival is a half pagan, half Catholic ritual. Essentially, it is organized midwinter debauchery and the letting off of steam before Lent begins. If you are interested in more information about the whole affair, you can read the Wikipedia article.
Our first encounter with the Spanish version was here in Nerja in 2018. We were told that there would be events, musical performances, and a parade. It was suggested to us by some expats that we should have low expectations for the event.
They could not have been more wrong. The first Carnaval we witnessed in 2018 was absolutely delightful. We were especially looking forward to this year’s event, because it had largely gone on hiatus through the pandemic, and we assumed there would be pent up excitement just waiting to be unleashed.
Carnaval in Nerja is a local, much-loved, family-oriented event. This is not something done to attract tourists. You can tell by the level of participation, and the obvious enjoyment demonstrated by the local folks.
Throughout most of the Costa del Sol, Carnaval is condensed to a four-day event… February 16-19 in Nerja. Three of those days’ events are captured here in photos and videos for your interest and pleasure… I hope. 🙂 We did not take in the kid’s stuff on the Friday night.
Photos are once again mostly presented in the Carousel format.
Thursday – Opening Ceremonies at the Cultural Centre – (el Pregon)
The celebration kicked off with an event at the local Cultural Center. We did not attend, but it was covered by a local television station, and I have captured some screenshots from the YouTube replay to give you an idea of what was going on. You can watch the full event here.
Part of the reason we didn’t go was because we couldn’t figure out if you needed tickets, or if this was a first come first served event. As you will see in the pictures, it appears that people who didn’t get in we’re still having fun out on the street in front of the venue.
Saturday – The Parade (Pasacalles)
This was the event that originally captured our hearts in 2018. It was immediately very clear what a tremendous effort had been put into this event by the whole community. It was ripe with fabulous costumes, great musical performances, and enthusiastic revelers.
This first photo presents the parade route through town and the official program. The parade route (red line) started on the west (left) side of the map, proceeded up to a main intersection, and then straight back down again to the Balcon de Europa. The red X, in the small yellow box is roughly where we stood to watch the parade.
You will see that everyone is bundled up. This is primarily an early evening event, and it cools of most nights at this time of year. For the record, it starts right after lunch… in Spain that means 5 PM in the evening. 🙂 It was 5:45 before the first group got to us.
Parade Videos
I always find that even a few simple video shots tend to bring these sorts of events to life. Here are three I took that I hope you will enjoy.
All in all, it took about an hour and a half for the parade to go by us… so not a small event. After we left the parade area, like many folks, we headed to an outdoor patio for refreshing adult beverages. I think the Love-goddess is “getting her samba on” in this picture. 🙂
Parade After-Party
After a wee bit of beverage-R&R, we headed back over to the big plaza at the Balcon de Europa, where the large festival tent was set up to house all the special events taking place throughout the four days. This is where the parade ends in the evening, and where the participants and the general public get to mingle, drink and party.
Let’s check it all out!
After Party Video
In this video, parade participants are beginning to arrive. You can see how family oriented this whole event is. Kids are everywhere with their parents, participating and just having fun. No matter how late things go on.
Sunday – Burial of the Anchovy (El Entierro del Boquerón) or Sardine
Carnaval concludes with the carrying of a large anchovy in a procession of mourners, singing groups and numerous people in costume down to the beach, where it is “buried” (burned) on the seashore accompanied by fireworks. The anchovy is designed in gigantic dimensions and apparently is usually inspired by some relevant event that has occurred in the city during the previous year.
The mourners are dressed in black and often crying and expressing sorrow. Most of the people in costume are participants from the previous day’s parade.
To this day, I still have very little idea what the burying of the anchovy is all about. There is only a little bit of information about it on ye olde Interweb. The Wikipedia article states:
“The ‘Burial of the Sardine’ is celebrated on Ash Wednesday and is a symbolical burial of the past to allow society to be reborn, transformed and with new vigour.”
That’s all I’ve got. Nowhere can I find anything else about it. Have a look at the Wikipedia article if you have further interest. Here in Nerja, practicalities dictated that the anchovy was buried on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.
Only one photo from the actual event, BUT I did find a great video, just posted on YouTube, replaying the 2023 Nerja event, so you can see how it all unfolded.
Burial of the Anchovy/Sardine Video
Carnival on the Costa del Sol really is a tremendous event. And one that you should get yourself immersed in if you are wintering here anytime in the future.
Let’s wrap this all up with a historical, cultural portrayal of the event. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painter, was amongst the first to portray the event in this famous painting – “The Fight Between Carnival and Lent”
